Sign the STOPP petition against damaging newsprint tariffs

Posted
Friday, June 29, 2018 1:23 pm

The STOPP Coalition, which includes the Inland Press Association among its 60-plus members, has launched a petition calling on the International Trade Commission to reverse tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Canadian newsprint, tariffs that threaten newspaper jobs and the industry itself, organizers say.

The petition by the Stop Tariffs on Printers & Publishers Coalition (www.stopnewsprinttariffs.org) argues that the tariffs, which took effect at the beginning of the year, will lead to job losses in the industry:

“We are printers, publishers, paper suppliers and distributors that represent mostly small businesses in local communities that employ more than 600,000 workers in the United States. We have joined together to fight proposed government tariffs on newsprint that have been initiated by petitions filed by a single newsprint mill, NORPAC, an outlier in the industry that is owned by a New York hedge fund, with no additional pulp or paper operations in the United States or globally. The proposed tariffs will force our member companies to cut jobs not only at newspapers, commercial printing, and book publishing operations, but throughout the supply chain, such as paper manufacturers, ink suppliers, fuel producers, and equipment manufacturers. Our country’s trade laws should not be manipulated by one company in a way that will have a detrimental impact on American jobs throughout our economy.”

The News Media Alliance is helping to promote the petition drive, with the goal of collecting 10,000 signatures by July 17. To spread the word about the petition drive, the alliance also has created a media kit that includes downloadable digital ads, available on its web site (https://www.newsmediaalliance.org).